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How Not to Get Hired (Down the Road) May 31, 2007

Posted by Ken Newton in : Church Issues , 1 comment so far

A while ago I wrote about the phone experience I had with an applicant for a position we were filling at SpringWell.  The article got picked up in a job search and recruiting blog that provides illustrations and advice by which people don’t make classic mistakes when applying for a job.

I have a couple more thoughts coming out of a recent job staffing process here at SpringWell.

Firstly, don’t become impatient with the potential employer.  No matter how good you are, or how well you have represented yourself when applying, no company will consider you one millisecond past the moment you demand an explanation for the length of time it is taking to finalize the process.  Amazingly, amongst 75 applicants, 2 who were actually qualified took themselves out of the running by sending a terse and faulting follow up midway through the process.

Secondly, don’t take rejection so personally!  Of the same 75 starting applicants (now of course reduced to 73), 3 have found the time to express (post selection) how inept and mistaken we were for not having chosen them for the position.  Please  -  you will be much further ahead to take the time to thank the organization for its consideration.  That will fare well on files that are maintained for any subsequent matching employment opportunity.  But taking the process down for its failure to hire you just because you have it in your mind that you are the best of the lot is going to get you no future consideration.  Ever!

Here are a few of the post-staffing comments that might better have not been made:

These are real quotes!  Remember that these comments are from people who know nothing of me or the organization I represent.  They know nothing of our process or relative criteria for selection and hiring of qualified candidates.  I think I should just be laughing, but the reality is that competent people are shortchanging their potential contribution by letting their (low) self-esteem, insecurity, ego, anger problems, whatever, get in the way of professional conduct.  Just appreciate having had the opportunity, and move along without burning anything behind you.

All said, thank goodness these applicants never got past go!

Watch Your Mouth…. May 30, 2007

Posted by Ken Newton in : Church Issues, Looking Outside, communications , 1 comment so far

Readership on my blog has more than doubled over the past few days.  I like that.  It makes writing all the more meaningful if there is actually someone out there reading your stuff.  Actually, it’s a lot more than someone, and I continue to be pleasantly surprised that what I think is actually of interest beyond my limited influence of work, home, and nearby relationships.

At the same time, I am interested to know what brings people back and what expands interest to include the new fan (or critic).  As I look at other bloggers and the comments following each article, it seems that the connection is typically where there is a similar point of view.  People like to be affirmed by the philosophy and opinion of another, particularly if the writer holds a greater public position.  Of course, if it happens to be a pastor, there is no greater confirmation of being right.

Sorry  -  had to get my once-a-week poke….

I have also seen that any written provocation or offensive style makes headlines, and curiosity becomes the order of the day.  People have to check out your blog to “experience” the annoyance and disgust of an off-center point of view, or an unfashionable expression.  I think the flurry of activity on my blog may be along these lines.

Interestingly, use of real language has made some headlines these past few days.  Not CNN-type headlines, but certainly within the “church” community.  I read a couple of articles yesterday that got me thinking about how people may process my writing style and find me guilty of some immoral offence.  Check out this article where Chuck Shwindoll was recently dropped from radio stations for using bad words.  Words that included buns, heck, crap, and balls.  Then I was reading my favorite blog where Tony is laying down some rules for comments.  He talks about trying to be a good baptist boy, and not tolerating inappropriate language.

I might understand a person’s offense to words that amount to cursing.  I was checking out my urban dictionary and read the following discussion on cursing:

“A retarded and pointless way of insulting someone. Cursing in arguments shows that either A) the person is weak, B) the argument is weak, or C) both. The answer is usually (C). However, the ones who are offended by curses are just as weak and pitiful as the ones who curse in arguments.”

I’m good with that.  If I am going to use a word that is marginal in its acceptance, it is for the purpose of adding a dimension of attention and effect to the point.  It is not to curse.  If I had to do it because my point cannot stand on its own by any form of representation, or I am uncertain in its defense, then I wouldn’t even begin to offer an opinion.  If I am solid in my position, then to whatever better way of strengthening the point can the strategic use of words be employed, I am comfortable to do that.  Words that I used in a recent blog drew attention.  Good.  They were about a strong response about a strong position.

You need to understand this.  While some people write with a particular audience of church leaders in mind, I write more about influencing the general understanding of a relevant church operation and the similarities to the real world way of doing things.  It is for real people.  It is for people who know that, in spite of their Sunday behavior, they are no less real in their values (including use of “inappropriate” language) on any other given day.  I don’t write to mess with SpringWell’s constituency.  It just so happens that people from the church I work at also happen to read my blog.  I do write to mess with the way other churches operate.  Some of that may apply to SpringWell, and that’s where it could fall.  That’s OK.  But mostly I write in a way that people who don’t get church and its traditional bunk actually think there is hope for them to be part of a present, genuine community of Christ followers. 

I write as if real people are reading.  I have even stopped using the term “unchurched” people.  I was talking with a person the other day who was also a candidate for a position we are looking to staff.  He constantly referred to “real” people as outside the church community.  People who we need to connect with at their level, including how they talk and understand. 

So  -  please be tolerant of me.  Understand that there is no pretense in what and how I write.  There is nothing to be lost and so much to be gained where progressive thinking and expression brings attention and action for a more effective church.  Heck (ooops…please don’t fire me…)   -  I think that’s important!

GSTQ…

I Care Enough…. May 29, 2007

Posted by Ken Newton in : GSTQ, Staff , add a comment

OK.  I am back from a brief, part-weekend getaway, and nice as it was, anything less than 7 days just comes up short on the scale of forgetting about work long enough to really relax and enjoy new surroundings.  But, it did get me thinking about taking a vacation that meets the definition, and, of course, the next big cruise started to formulate as a plan in my mind.

But how do you know when it’s time to book your next cruise?  These are the critical determining factors I would typically use to gauge:

This has become a long stretch, and the worst part is not over.  The only vacation in distant view is a short September cruise.  I don’t know if I will survive until then.  I suspect the staff I work with are already starting to note the subtle but ever-increasing trembling, lapses in attention, unfair emotional outbursts, frequent moments of daydreaming during critical staff meetings, and generally, a carriage of despondency.  I catch looks of concern, and am not ignorant of the murmurings that go on in little staff clusters.  Murmurings about how difficult the summer is going to be for everyone as I become increasingly disquieted over the long, drawn interval up to the next cruise.  I suspect efficiency will drop off, absenteeism will soar, morale will reach one of its lowest points  -  all because my next ship doesn’t leave port until September.

Come to think of it, I may have to take a cruise sooner than planned.  SpringWell doesn’t deserve to suffer on my account, and taking a cruise next month is probably the least I could do to keep its operation at a maximum state of effectiveness.  I guess I just care too much for my staff.  And with that must come personal sacrifice.  I can do it.

GSTQ

Better Than Spinach May 25, 2007

Posted by Ken Newton in : GSTQ , add a comment

I am in a great mood today.  Actually, very few times am I not in a great mood, although people might interpret passion and aggressive commentary to be about my daily disposition.  Not so.  I enjoy life, my task in life, a mind that won’t stop trying to find a better way, an aggressive approach to change that strikes my emotions every which way, and the fact that I can bear some influence amongst agreement and disagreement.

But, today, it’s all about the infrequent luxury of life and uncluttered relationship.  Lynda and I are off on a weekend getaway that stands to be one of those memorable moments of isolation, quiet conversation, music, reading, food, food….  No computers, no cell phone, no picking up after the dog, no street lights beating through the window.

Just closeness.

I like close, but it is a highly selective experience.  People who know me understand that separation is important.  Certainly hugging is most times out of the question.  I am Canadian, you know.  Bodies aren’t allowed to touch.  Although I must say that every once in a while I let a person or two cross over the invisible line and allow them the wonderful experience of a side touch.  Of course, I would only do it for them and allow myself to derive no self-benefit.

Guess what?  I found someone who feels the same way!  He’s almost Canadian, worked at the same church Lynda and I attended in Indiana, and has now moved to South Carolina.  He is obviously experiencing the same trauma I have since moving here, and has shown incredible nerve by publishing his standards in one of his blogs.  Tony is better at offending people than I.  Simply, people don’t realize that they should be offended when he writes.  He’s just too nice in making his points.  For me to be like that would take too much energy and messing with words.  People have to know that you’re talking at them and at least take some exception.

Here are a couple of statements he has made that I am stealing:

“I put up with it. But I’m not a big fan of physical touch (well…with one exception).  I know other people need physical touch, so I try to offer that in appropriate ways. But, quite frankly, I kind of liken it to eating spinach. I know it’s good for me and others, and I have to force myself to do it.”

and….

“That being the case, my position still stands. I’ll give you a manly, side-shoulder hug if I have too, but please… Don’t touch my skin!”

Thanks, Tony, for saying nicely what I might have said a lot differently!  And, as to the “one exception”, did I mention that Lynda and I are going away for the weekend?

GSTQ 

Good Intentions My Ass May 23, 2007

Posted by Ken Newton in : Church Issues, GSTQ , 1 comment so far

People inevitably go through some hard life stuff.  When it’s you, it feels like it has never happened to anyone else. Even if it had, there is no way it could even come close to the depth and darkness of your experience.  And there is just about nothing anyone can say that can bring understanding and perspective in relation to the emotions and confusion and pain of your circumstance.

Some people I really care about are going through stuff these days.  What does that mean for my involvement and responsibility?  Most often, for my futile experiences, it means “just being there”.  What does that mean? 

How about…

It means wrapping your love around people without wrapping your values and ideals and solutions around them.  Anything other than that unless requested is simple prideful meddling. 

Take the above list and reconstitute it as a converse set of descriptives.  I don’t need to do that for you.  It’s just the flip of each statement.  As an illustration, you are either judgemental or not.  You’ve got it all figured or you choose to be honest and admit you don’t know.  And so on….

Guess what.  Here are my observations of how so many friends and concerned individuals have come about these people I care about.  They have pursued the converse.  They have shown limited if any discretion and ignored the pain and emotions.  They have wrought condemnation over unconditional understanding and acceptance.   They have added the dimension of failure and worthlessness to a struggling identity before a holy God.

I honestly have no idea how to put a positive spin on this article.  I really would like to bring some balance of good to all the meddling and gossiping and faulting that “well-intended” people have vomited on my friends.  I guess the balance could be that I have found one pure heart and support in another close friend, and he salvages my anger and cynicism every time we talk.  While he is the exception, maybe I will just dwell on that good fact, and meanwhile, just tell everyone else to simply go to hell confession…

Whatever.  Just doff the pious pretentious garb of grace and mercy….

GSTQ

Thank You Computer Guy! May 22, 2007

Posted by Ken Newton in : Systems & Structure, communications , add a comment

Where I work we function out of two buildings.  We network and access the world beyond our walls by way of a fiberoptic connection.  For the past week, our link has been down, and we have been held captive to the lead time on parts and the technical resources to service our network.

Well  -  last night I got to work alongside a technician as he installed new hardware and brought our system up to performance.  It was quite an insight to the world of communications and the related computer culture.  I learned a whole new vocabulary and way of “talking” with machinery:

“It’s trying to find the other switch”
“It’s found it and is working on making the connection”
“They’re talking to each other”
“The ST-SC 62.5/125 fiber patch cables are working well with the optical GBIC”
“The backbone will now provide a faster transfer rate”

Now, I am probably in the higher percentile for knowing about computers and networks.  At least, until last night I actually thought I knew pretty much anything.  Now I know that I am simply dangerous and incompetent to even attempt to correct or modify any network condition.  There are individuals out there who live in a different world of people talking in some heavenly language with computers.  And they are the future of communications technology.

I was in awe of the specialty of the skill set of the person who brought our operations back to life.  For him it was probably easier than making a peanut butter sandwhich (which I also happen to use for catching squirrels).  I am now able to do my job again.  I work in a church, and have always made the claim that we are a business.  Now I have to say that we are a business highly dependent on complex systems of accessing and processing information.  I became so casual about their reliability that I barely assumed their existence.  Not any more.  I will even go so far to say that without the extreme service capability of “culturally relevant” specialists, church just can’t do its thing.  Ask our media guy.  Ask our information management coordinator.  Ask our webmaster.  Ask me….

This is the area of our operations where we can never shortchange our investment in change.

Thanks, computer guy…..  I’m back on my computer and loving every minute of it!

Behavior – Below the Surface May 21, 2007

Posted by Ken Newton in : GSTQ , add a comment

Well  -  last week sure took a strange twist.  As you find more of life behind you than what lies ahead, you tend to become smug about having the answers and managing life and circumstances.  But then, something new and obscene comes along, and everything else aligns in some perverse fashion about it.  Inspiration falters, trust comes into question, and yes, commitment to writing a daily blog falls from its haughty loft.

I sure didn’t feel one bit like writing towards the end of last week.  But, on reflection, I also see how so many of life’s variables take on the shape of the moment.  Here’s my best description of the byproduct of a significant life hit:

Don’t read me as cynical.  That is not my intent.  In fact, it is only a simple analysis of my response to an imposing condition.  I think the greater observation comes from how people process another’s behavior for lack of any understanding of the emotional dynamics of the situation.  The tendency is to fault behavior over understanding and benefit of the doubt.  I do it myself.  I tend to be intolerant, disconnected, and by the book in my expectations of responsibility, performance and consistency.  It really is easier to tell someone to suck it up than the effort and interest it takes to understand any behavioral anomaly.

Bottom line is  -  I am going to try to up my sensitivity.  I am going to extend sympathy over irritation when greeting obnoxious, angry people who for some reason bring those emotions with them to church every weekend.  I need to consider the possibility of hurting and difficult circumstances over the symptom. 

Look at me  -  I missed three days of blogging!  Who knows what you thought about me!

GSTQ

To Have an Opinion…. or Not May 16, 2007

Posted by Ken Newton in : communications , 2comments

OK  -  I said I was taking a hiatus.  That doesn’t mean I still don’t have something to say about something.  I just figured it was time to stop trying to make everything connect in some fashion to church.  There is only so much you can say about a business that needs only to be relevant, not complex.  But, as I shared that I came to a decision over the weekend to shift gears, I think some offense was taken for any perceived motivation.  Sadly. 

Let me explain.  My nearest frame of reference is my church.  That also happens to be the place I work.  Along with Scott and other leaders, we work hard to fault what doesn’t add value, and creatively fashion into our form what does.  But go public with any reference to church (in)effectiveness, and instantly one becomes the inside critic and dissenter.  Ever heard the expression “why would you cut off your nose to spite your face”?  Why is it necessary to be angry over an opinion that makes you think and possibly even squirm a bit.

Doesn’t anyone else ever feel like their personal crusade is futile?  Does anyone actually have one that they would try in anyway to influence another person’s thinking?  I could probably come up with no more than three people who even take the time to make me think and take the risk of offending me.  Do you ever think that your passion just isn’t contagious, and the status quo is much too fortified?  Well  -  that’s where I hit this past weekend.  Too many church services on television accomplishing absolutely nothing other than spending hard-earned money.  Too many church signs condemning people to hell or containing rhyming couplets that make you cringe in embarrassment.  Too many suits.  Even too many “contemporary” churches that are operating in the 90’s while thinking they are still making the same difference in today’s culture because they installed a projector and screen and know how to use powerpoint.

And, in my opinion, my church hasn’t got it all figured.  So what?  I hope it never does, because that is when it will start to lock up all over again.

In a book Mavericks at Work, William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre write that “if you believe that a brand has to have a set of convictions, then you have to be prepared to piss people off.  We don’t have to appeal to everyone.”  The choice then becomes, do I piss people off by trying to make a difference, or do I just go along with the mainstream.  Can I do that?  Sounds like hard work trying to do what is easiest.  It even sounds deceitful. 

Nope  -  can’t do it.  Meanwhile, don’t be angry with me simply for having a point of view. 

Hiatus May 15, 2007

Posted by Ken Newton in : GSTQ , 1 comment so far

Normally, I write my blog early in the morning at home, send it on notepad to my work email addy, take a look at it a little later in the morning to be sure I was really sane when I wrote it. Then I post it up for feedburner to pull and distribute it between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.  Yesterday I just didn’t feel like writing first thing  -  I had in mind I would write something from my work computer.

Well  -  our system went down at work and we had no internet access all day.  Here’s the deal.  I could have found another way to post my blog.  I’m 7 minutes from work, and it would have been easy to run home, post it, and be back to work in the same time it would take to have a coffee break.  The thing is, I really didn’t feel like it.  I guess I am saying that the reason I didn’t blog was not due to a systems failure.  It was because I didn’t want to.

For whatever reason, I came out of this weekend seriously questioning to what extent my bent to communicating a different approach to “church”, particulary within the context of conventional business and marketing practices, can ever have an influence in how we do church.  I think I am a little quixotic  -  no, I am probably closer to demented for even suggesting that change can occur in relation to what I think and believe.  Maybe it’s the lens I don when critiquing.  I think church talks the talk, but for the most part functions in separation from culture.  Separation is easier than alignment.  “Because” is easier than understanding and tolerance.

Legacy may be no more than being remembered as a delusional lunatic.

This is not the point I want to dwell on.  It may constitute the reason that I should be rethinking what adds value in this world as stated within a couple of paragraphs that people find by the strategic placement of search words.  I don’t want to waste everybody’s time talking about the butterfly I saw on my window ledge.  I don’t want to share my moods.  I want to say something important.  Something provoking.  Something heretical from time to time. 

I may take a couple of days to reconstitute.

But I think it will come back with little reference to church.  I have spun that one for 3 months now. Let it sit and simmer for a while.  Someone gave me a book this past weekend that offers “absolutely everthing you need to know to get (blogging) right”.  I’m going to read it.

As usual, comments are welcome.   GSTQ

How Much Sleep Do Senior Pastors Really Need? May 11, 2007

Posted by Ken Newton in : Church Issues, Financial , 3comments

Today I am going to wear my SpringWell hat.  I am going to stay away from philosophy and concepts.  I apologize to those readers who are not connected with SpringWell for wasting your time.

I was hired to put distance between the senior pastor of SpringWell and all of the operating grunge.  I was hired to work alongside of him in laying out strategic direction and putting meat to the bones of big ideas.  My role is to bring focus to what we must specifically accomplish as a unique church enterprise, and engage systems (methodologies) that will make things happen.

I agree with Scott that we are dead on with our mission.  We are certain that by who we are in strategy and form, we should only measure success to the extent we reach and grow by a heart for the unchurched.  We have gone through a year of adjustments and fine tuning at just about every level.  But this is a high-tech, values torn world, and the complexities of being a competing church are like never before.  To execute and move forward takes money.  All the heart and tears and agreement of who we are at SpringWell will not take us far.

At SpringWell, we are no better than the national averages when it comes to financial contributions.  OK  -  the truth is, we are worse.  We should be way out in front if we really are passionate about what we want to achieve and influence.  I think that’s what Scott is saying in his article.  That’s what is keeping him awake.  Hey  -  I have worked around pastors enough to know that the last topic they ever want to address is money.  I have seen strong, confident ministers vomiting behind the stage knowing they are going to be talking to their church community about finances.

You know why?  It’s not because of the numbers, but it is because of what the numbers represent.  It can even represent a feeling of failure.  Money is the symptom, and the cause is a disconnect taking into account such variables that might include teaching, assimilation, passion, priorities, selfishness, vindictiveness, distrust, motivation, and on…  When a pastor is talking money, he is conflicted over his own effectiveness and strength of leadership.  He is not necessarily faulting.  True, there are times where he is just trying to create a spike in giving to accommodate a critical financial need.  But, more often, he is processing his own conflict.

I know the numbers better than anybody.  That’s my job.  I do my best to make them my struggle and my sleeplessness, and invest the time into research and problem solving.  Talking about deficits and shortcomings really doesn’t accomplish much over time.  It can touch the spikes, but there is no continuity.  We don’t talk much about our fiscal state around SpringWell.  And I don’t accept for a spit that constantly representing our income and expenditure constitutes right motivation for giving.  Giving must be a deeply embedded value and be in direct connection with SpringWell’s exclusive means of reaching people who do not have an understanding of and relationship with God. 

And that’s what keeps a senior pastor awake at night.  That’s what saps his energy.  That’s what sidelines him from thinking at a high level and with an outlook of where we need to get to.  Not about where we are at.  I’m thinking that future proofing your church should have included the importance of an unencumbered, crazy wild senior pastor.  Not a pastor who is struggling with the church bills.

Scott doesn’t know I am writing this today.  He may decide to fire me for saying this stuff.  But reading his blog did make me think.  It made me feel like I have failed him in some way for what I was hired on to accomplish.  I also know that for all I have done in my role, it has been more than anyone should question as to long hours and creative influence.  I give a lot of effort to this place.  So I really know I have done my best.  But Scott needs his sleep.  Something needs fixing and if it means we all must take some order of responsibility, then that’s what we have to do.  No blaming, just owning what’s our part.

Tomorrow  -  back to my usual ramblings….  Hope you’re still there!